ABSTRACT
All social and behavioural science stories of youth defer to the narrative of becoming, of transition. For Youth Studies, transitions are a concept that has been central to its diverse projects. The idea of transitions is based on an understanding of ‘youth’ as a phase in the life course that sits somewhere between childhood and adulthood. Understandings of youth transitions, and youth citizenship, have historically been underpinned by the notion of successful attainment of normative markers for the young person who moves through a series of steps and pathways into economically-independent adulthood and full citizenship. These orthodox understandings of ‘transitions’ capture the hopeful promise of a future that unfolds with forward momentum, generating progress, knowledge, security, and personal development. Proponents of the generation paradigm indicate that the distinctiveness of new life patterns across the western world constitutes a generational shift, as opposed to merely an extended transition to adulthood.
